4.48 PSYCHOSIS

Mhàiri Mackenna / Frascati Producties

Tue 17 Feb - Sat 16 May

Sarah Kane’s infamous cult classic in times of hyperviolence.

Past event

Tue 17 Feb

Sat 16 May

Past event

Only events in our venues
Tue 17 Feb

20:00

Try-out

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Wed 18 Feb

20:00

Try-out

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Thu 19 Feb

20:00

Première

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Fri 20 Feb

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Sat 21 Feb

20:00

Engelse en Nederlandse boventitel

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Tue 24 Feb

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Wed 25 Feb

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Thu 26 Feb

20:00

Engelse en Nederlandse boventitel

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Fri 27 Feb

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Sat 28 Feb

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 4

Past event
Wed 8 Apr

20:00

Tourlocatie, Utrecht

Frascati Producties on tour

Theater Kikker, Utrecht

Past event
Sat 18 Apr

20:15

Tourlocatie, Leiden

Frascati Producties on tour

Ins Blau, Leiden

Past event
Wed 22 Apr

20:15

Tourlocatie, Den Haag

Frascati Producties on tour

Het Nationale Theater, Den Haag

Past event
Sat 2 May

20:00

Tourlocatie, Almere

Frascati Producties on tour

Corrosia, Almere

Past event
Wed 13 May

20:00

Tourlocatie, Haarlem

Frascati Producties on tour

De Schuur, Haarlem

Past event
Thu 14 May

20:30

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Past event
Fri 15 May

20:30

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Past event
Sat 16 May

20:30

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Past event

How can you build a life as a human being when the other members of the human race seem seem obsessed with orchestrating their own downfall? Is it possible to live in this world without lying about who you are? Where can love be found when you are turning to ashes?

In 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, we meet someone who is trying to find coherence in a crumbling existence. Surrounded by a violent landscape of love and loss, they obsessively search for tenderness and clarity. Tortured by dysphoria, haunted by ghosts and paralysed by shame and anger, they mourn the past, the present and, above all, the lost future.

Sarah Kane wrote the text at the end of the twentieth century, when she had lost faith in love and Western values were beginning to collapse. It is a web of intimate fragments in which a person's life simultaneously unravels and blossoms in a manic way. 4.48 PSYCHOSIS is her last and most vulnerable text.

Mhàiri Mackenna brings this infamous classic to today's chaos, through their lens of social disruption, fear, disgust and horror. Fuelled by personal experiences, the history of genocide and apocalyptic sounds of noise and drone music, they stage a physical and musical monologue.

Première: Thu, 19 Feb 2025 20:00
75 mins.
Please note: use of stroboscope, loud noise and smoke.
Thu 14 May in We Are Public programme

Part of

Frascati Producties 25/26

Credits

direction, scenography, lighting design, music and sound design Mhàiri Mackenna text Sarah Kane performance Sabine van Kuipers costume design Sanne Vermij translation Han van Wieringen direction advisor Steven van Watermeulen performance advice Maria Kraakman special thanks to Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, David Greig and Espen Hjort

Previous performances in the press

Theaterkrant about Anatomy of a Suicide “Intergenerationeel trauma grijpt je bij de keel. [...] Collectief LENZ speelt het stuk voor het eerst in Nederland en de enscenering is raak gekozen.”

Theaterkrant over 4.48 PSYCHOSIS "Actrice Sabine van Kuipers geeft donkerte van Sarah Kane een sterke tegenkleur."

de Volkskrant over 4.48 PSYCHOSIS "In regie van Mhàiri Mackenna grijpt Sarah Kanes beroemde monoloog je op onverwachte momenten naar de keel."

de Volkskrant about Anatomy of a Suicide “…scherpe studie van moederschap, mentale gezondheid en suïcide.”

About Mhàiri Mackenna

Mhàiri Mackenna (they/she) is a director, lighting designer, scenographer and musician who graduated in Directing from Amsterdam’s Academy of Theatre and Dance in 2021. Mhàiri has been affiliated to our production house since 2021. Their latest production will premiere with Frascati Producties in 2026: 4.48 PSYCHOSIS by Sarah Kane.

For Frascati Producties, Mhàiri previously wrote and presented Sheath and Knife (2021) as well as LENZ (2022), and with the LENZ collective Katie Cruel (2023), Hauntology (2024) and Anatomy of a Suicide (2025).

In 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, Mhàiri expands upon an oeuvre that probes the lives of outsiders – people struggling to navigate the extremes of their lives, as the threat of personal and societal collapse draws ever closer.

About Sarah Kane

Sarah Kane (1971–1999) was an influential English playwright, known for her raw, violent and poetic plays such as Blasted, Cleansed and 4.48 Psychosis, which explore themes such as love, pain, sex and death, strongly influenced by her own struggles with mental health issues, depression and her Christian upbringing.